On buttons



L b e e h s s t e e h S 5 S N I L L 0 O S IM. u d 0 M 0 I MACHINE FOR SEWING ON'BUTTONS.

N0.350,453. PatentedOot. 5,-1886 WITNESSES N. warms Pnmvumn m hw. Washington. ac

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. S. COLLINS.

MACHINE FOR SEWING 0N BUTTONS.

N0. 350,453. Patented Oct; 5, 1886.

. IIIHIIIIIlIlIlIIEII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIIlIIlIi- Q |I I l I I I l I l I l"II-"lulu"IIllIIlIIlIIIII- m MNN WITNEIEEE:

(No Model.) J. S. COLLINS.

MACHINE FOR SEWING 0N BUTTONS. No. 350,453. Patented Oct. 5,188.6.

5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. S. COLLINS.

MAOHINE FOR SEWING ON BUTTONS.

No. 350,453. Patented 00's. 5, 1886.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5. J. S. COLLINS.

MACHINE FOR SEWING UN BUTTONS.

No. 350,453. Patented 00m, 1886.

'l IN v ENT 0 R.

/ w am WITNESSES.- i

1 lhugmphu, Wnhingiun. n. c.

UNITED STATES A PATENT- OFFICE.

JOSEPH S. COLLINS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF TWO-THIRDS TO JOHN G. ULMER AND JOHN H. JOHNSON, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR SEWING ON BUTTONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,453, dated October 5, 1886. Application filed November 14, 1885. Serial No. 182,840. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J osErH S. OoLLINs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and 5 State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Machines for Sewing on Buttons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had 1 to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a machine illustrating my invention. Fig.2 is a plan view of machine shown 1 in Fig. 1, the needle-arm being removed or shown in section. Fig. 3 is a plan view of operative mechanism below the top plate of bed-piece of machine, showing some of the parts seen in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical 2 transverse section on line at m, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an end elevation. Fig. 6 is a perspective of holder for lasting-buttons. Fig. 7 isaperspective or holder for metal-shank buttons. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of device shown in 2 Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a perspective of detent. Figs. 10 and 11 are perspectives of a lastingbutton and a shank-button,respectively. Fig. 12 is a perspective of a sewing-machine embodying my improvements, a portion of the side of the bed-piece being broken away to show the stop-motion devices, and the throatplate being removed to illustrate the relative positions of the holder and the stitch-forming mechanism. Fig. 13 is a vertical section of the holder, showing the needle in elevation and a section of a piece of a'fabric in the hold er. Fig. 14 is a rear view of the holder,showing also the needle and so much of the fabric as shows in a rear View when the machine is 0 in operation.

My invention has for its object to provide a machine for sewing buttons on fabrics, the buttons to be sewed being either lasting or shank buttons, which have a projection or 4 5 shank on the back of the button.

ll/Iy invention, in the first place, consists of means for holding the button in the plane, or parallel with the plane, of movement of the needle-bar of a sewing-machine, said plane (when the needle-bar, as is usual, is over the cloth-plate) being perpendicular to that of the cloth-plate, so that the needle in its movement will pass through the back projection or shank of the button.

In sewing on buttons on a garment it is desirable that each button should be held as firmly as all, to effect which the number of stitches by which the buttons-are held to the fabric should be uniform. To secure such uniformity by mechanical or automatic deor I vices, so as to avoid the uncertainty of personal attention,the machine should have means whereby it may be regulated to make any desired number of stitches, and to stop sewingwhen such number has been attained.

My invention accordingly consists, further, in means wherebywhen a given number of stitches is made as a fastening for the button the machine will stop its movement.

It is desirable that when the machine stops 0 the needle-bar will be in a raised position, with the needle out of the fabric, so as to avoid the loss of time and labor of raising the needle-bar by hand; and it is further desirable that the means provided for this purpose should be adjustable, so as to adapt them to varying speeds of the machine.

My invention, therefore, still further consists in means whereby the needle-bar may be stopped automatically in an elevated position, and in the provision of the appliances whereby the stop-motion may be adjusted to adapt it to efficient operation for various speeds of the machine.

My invention still further consists in certain details of. construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter fully described, and specifically claimed.-

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A

designates the bed-piece or base of the mao chine, which is preferably a casting designed and adapted to rest upon atable, like an ordinary sewing-machine. In said base there is suitably supported a main shaft, B, and on said base is a needle-arm, O, terminating in a 5 head, a, a needle-operating lever, c, and a needle-bar, 0 the latter carrying a needle, 0 Motion is communicated to shaft B by a belt,

D, running alternately on pulleys D and D the former being a loose'and the latter a fast pulley, and motion is transferred from said shaft to the needleoperating leverin any usual or suitable manner, as from a cam, B.

On the cloth-plate or upper surface of the bed A there is fitted aslide, E, which restsin a dovetail groove or depression, and is designed and adapted to have a longitudinal reciprocatingmovement-that is, a motion in the direction of the length of the machine-such movement being intermittent, or having a dwell or rest at each limit. To impart this in: termittent reciprocating movement, connection may be made directly from slide E with a cam, F, on the main shaft B, or slotted conmeeting-levers f f fflwith set-screwsf, which will permit an adj ustability,or variation in the length of movement of the slide may be pro- Vided.

On the slide E there is mounted a buttonholder, G, which is in the form of adisk, plate, or stock, g, having a recess, 9, which receives the back of the button to be stitched, and a slot or aperture, through which the back projection or shank of the button extends. The form of the slot or aperture 9 may be varied to suit either a lasting-button, like that shown in Fig. 10, which has a cloth or teat projection, 1, or the button shown in Fig. 11, which has a metal shank or loop, 2. The disk or plateg stands vertically, or in or parallel with the plane of movement of the needlebar, and has agroove or slot, 9. in its back for the passage of the needle, so that the latter in descending will pass through the button projection 1 or the shank 2, extending through the opening 9". The plate g may be attached directly and immovably to theslide E; but it is by preference adjustably and removably connected to the latter, having a rearwardlyextending bar, 9, with slot g and set-screw 9 said bar g fitting between guides e e on the plate E, and said screws entering a threaded opening in the latter. By these means the holder G may be adjusted on the plate E to suit different thicknesses of fabric, on which buttons may be sewed by moving it toward or from the needle, or laterally on the slide E.

In sewing on a button it is placed with its back against the fabric ormaterial to which it is to be stitched. The button and fabric are then laid in or against the holder G, the fabric.

next to the latter, and suiiicient thumb or other pressure applied to the front of the button to hold it and the fabric in place against the holder, or in the recess or socket of the latter. The needle-bar now being moved, the needle passes down through the fabric and projection or shank on the back of the button and (the needle-thread being looped below by a shuttle, hook, or other stitch-forming device) arises, the slide E remaining stationary while the needleis descending and ascending. As soon as the needle has been raised out of the fabric the slide E is moved from and by the cam F, carrying with it the holder G, so that when the needle next descends it will enter the fabric and button projection at a place slightly to one side of where it entered on its previous movement. This series of reciprocating intermittent mo tions of the slide and holder and movement of the needle while the slide and holder are at rest continue until a sufficient number of stitches has been formed to unite and firmly hold the button on the fabric. Now. to cause the machine to stop as soon as a sufficient number of stitches has been made, I provide the following combination of devices or mechanism: H is a belt-shifter or fork, by means of which the belt D is shifted from the pulley D to pulley D, and vice versa. This shifter is secured to a bar, I, designed and adapted to slide longitudinally of the frame or bed-piece of the machine, being fitted in guides or ways on the latter below its upper surface or cloth-plate. Said bar or slide 1 has a handle, i, at one end; or treadle connection may be used instead, its opposite end being attached to a retracting or pulling spring, I, which is connected to a rod, 1, having a thumb-nut, 2'. Said rod passes through a rigid cross-bar or frame-piece, a, so that by turning the nut i the tension of the spring I may be adjusted. The slide I has a friction-brake, K, adapted to bear against the fast pulley D when the slide I is moved toward the front end of the machine by the action of the spring I, and thereby to stop the machine. Said brake has a foot, K, with slots It and set-screws 70 k, by means of which it may be adjusted on the slide I. To hold the slide I against the tension and pull of spring I, with the brake K out of contact with the pulley D and the shifter H in line with said pulley, said slide is formed with a notch, 17, which receives the end of a detent or dog, Z, pivoted at Z on a stationary bracket, L, supported on the bed-piece A, and having a spring, Z", so arranged that its exertion will throw the end of said detent into said notch '13. Now, to throw off said detent, and thus allow the slide I to be moved by spring I, to shift belt D from fast pulley D to loose pulley D and to bring brake K into frictional contact with said pulley D,the following arrangement is provided: M is an eccentric on shaft B, and M a strap encircling the same and having attached to it a pawl, m, which engages with a ratchet, N, mounted on a bracket, N, supported on the base or bed-piece A. Said ratchet has teeth a on its periphery, and pins or studs 'IL projecting from its sides, as shown, which pins are so located or arranged that as the ratchet revolves theycome successively into contact with .a pin or projection, Z", on detent l, which passes through a slot, 1, in bracket L. There are considerably more teeth a on ratchet N than there arepins a. In practice I prefer, say,six to one, (though the proportion may be different,) and so make said ratchet with eighteen teeth and three pins. At every revolution of shaft B the pawl m moves ratchet N one tooths distance, so that once for every six revolutions of said shaft a ratchet pin, n, comes in contact with projection 5 on detent l. and throws off said detent, or moves it out of engagement with notch i As a stitch is made for every revolution of shaft B. it follows that as soon as six stitches are made the machine is instantly stopped, as when detent Z is thrown off slide I is moved by spring I, belt D shifted from fast pulley Dto loose pulley D and brake K brought into contact with said pulley D. By duly ar ranging the ratchet N with reference to cam B the detent will be thrown off in time to stop the machine while the needle is out of the fabric. Due regard in this connection must be had to the tension of spring I, as more ten sion is required with high than low speed, and the tension may be adjusted for all speeds by turning the nut i so that no matter what speed, the machine will be stopped with the needle raised out of the fabric. Theratchetshaft has a threaded end and a washer, by means of which friction is obtained to prevent the ratchet from being moved too far by pawl m.

To start the machine, the slide I is moved outwardly against the resistance of spring I by the operator taking hold of the handle 6, provided for the purpose, or by an equivalent treadle-connection movement, until the lower end of detent Z enters notch It may be here remarked that before the machine stops the ratchet Nis always moved far enough by pawl m for the pin 1/, which hasjust thrown off the detent, to pass or clear the projection Z on said detent, so as to offer no impediment to the latters entering notch- 11 when the slide is drawn out manually by the operator, as al ready described. In operation, then, the fabric and button being applied to the holder G, as already described, the slide I is drawn outwardly. If the machine is run by power, it will at once start; if by treadle, it is started by operating the latter. As soon as the desired number of stitches has been made the machine automatically stops sewing, with the needle raised. The fabric and button are then moved away from the holder, and the operations repeated as desired.

It may be observed that the stitching of a shank-buttom by the means described is peculiar in this that the fabric is drawn together inside the shank, aud no stitching shows on the back of the fabric directly behind or under said shank. Shank-buttons sewed on in this manner are more securely held than when sewed in the ordinary manner and rest evenly and uniformly on the fabric, not tilting or inclining to one side, as they generally do when secured by ordinarystitching; and whether lasting or shank buttons be sewed on,-the fabric or material to which the button is stitched is held vertically and does not rest upon a clothplate in the usual manner, and the needle passes twice every time it descends through I such fabric or materialthat is, once above and once below the shank or projection of the button, so that the stitch does not show directly back of such shank or projection.

To preventthe operator from seeing the needle or from getting her finger in contact with the latter, a shield or guard, g,in the form of an upwardly-extending plate or projection from the holder G, is provided.

The slide E may be a single piece directly engaging with cam F or with leverf, or it may be in two sections fastened together by a setscrew, E, passing through a slot in one and entering a screw-hole in the other,'which will permit adjustment of the center of the holder G with reference to the plane or line of movement of the needle.

To sew buttons of various diameters,different sizes of holders will be required, and by providing a set of such holders one can be readily substituted for another as occasion may require.

Outside of or beyond the slide E,and fitted in the same groove, is a stationary plate, 0, having a depression, 0 which plate serves as a guard to prevent contact of the fabric or material being stitched with the hook or shuttle. The depression in said plate is to bring the plane of the latter below the plane of the cloth-plate or upper surface of the bed-piece of the machine,owing to the depressed or lowered position ofthe holder; but this plate is not a necessity and may be wholly dispensed with, the hook or part of the stitch-forming mechanism being left exposed, as shown in Fig. 12. In order to properly form a stitch on the machine in sewing a button, it is desirable or necessary that the shank or projection on the back of the button should be brought close to the hook or looper below the cloth-plate, and it is obvious that this could not be accomplished if the holder G stood wholly above the plane of the cloth-plate. Hence the lower edge of the holder is located below the plane of the upper surface of the cloth-plate or bedpiece, in order that the bend of the fabric or part of the material directly below the shank or projection on the back of the button thro ugh' which theneedle passes will be in the same or about the same position relative to the hook, shuttle, or looper that fabric usually is when being stitched in the ordinary manner on'a sewing-machine.

The relative position of the parts is shown in Fig. 1, where a represents the upper surface of the bed-piece; E, the slide to which the holder G is attached; 0, the needle, and A the hook orlooper.

What I claim as my invention is 1. The combination,with asewing-machine, of a holder or device for holding a button and fabric or material while being stitched together, said holder consisting of a vertical plate, disk, or stock having a socketed or recessed face and a slot for the passage of the fabric and button projection or shank, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination,with a sewiugmarhine, of'a button and fabric or material holder or device for holding a button while being stitched together, said holder consisting of a vertical plate, disk, or stock having a recess or socket on its face, a slot for the passage of the fabric and button projection or shank, and a slot or groove on its back for the passage of the needle, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combinatiomwith the stitchforming devices of a sewing-machine and a bedpiece, of a slide fitted to move on said bed-piece, a vertical button holder adapted and arranged to hold a button on its edge,or vertically, and hav ng a slot or groove for the passage of the sewing-machine needle, and means, substantlally as described, for imparting an intermittent reciprocating movement to said slide and holder, as set forth.

4. The combination, with the main shaft and stitch-forming mechanism of a sewingmachine, of means for automatically stopping the machine when a predetermined number ofstitches has been made, said means cont prising the following parts: a main shaft by which motion is communicated to said stitchform ng mechanism, a fast and a loose pulley on said shaft, a slide having a retracti ng-sp ring for moving it in one direction, a beltshifter and a brake connected to said slide, a detent for holding said slide against the action of the slide-spring, a ratchet-wheel having pins or studs which successively contact with a pro ection on said detent, a pawl which engages with said ratchet and imparts a stepbystep movement thereto, an eccentric on the main shaft, and a strap on said eccentric connected to said pawl, said parts being constructed and combined for operation, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with the main shaft having fast and loose pulleys and the stitchforming mechanism of a sewing-machine, of a slide carrying a belt-shifter and a brake, and a spring for moving said slide to shift the belt and bring the brake into contact with the pulley, said spring having means for adjusting its tension to adapt the brake to stop the machine at varying speeds, with the needle elevated, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with the main shaft and stitch-forming mechanism of a sewingmachine, of a fast and a loose pulley on said shaft, a slide, a belt-shifter, and a brake on said slide, a spring for moving said slide, a detent for holding said slide against the action of said spring, and means, operating substantially as described, for automatically releasing the slide to cause it to move under the influence of the spring, substantially as set forth.

7. The combiuation,with the stitch-forming mechanism of a sewing-machine, of a dex ice for holding fabric and materia" and a button while being stitched together, said device con sisting of a vertical or upright disk witha socketed face and a slotted back located between the needle and cooperating part of the stitching mechanism, whereby the needle in its movement passes through the fabric above and below the shank or projection of the but ton, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of November, 1885.

JOSEPH S. COLLINS.

Witnesses:

WILL H. POWELL, It. DALE Smnrmwn. 

